Clean water in indispensable to better health and a fundamental component to an integrated community health project. Through the years, the Rio Beni Health Project has concentrated its resources on mobile primary care and the training of community health workers (health promoters), knowing that clean water is essential to its work.

Potable Water Initiative

After requests from villages and local health authorities, and careful analysis of the most beneficial potable water systems for the local populations, the staff of the Project initiated a pilot community bio-sand water filter project in 5 communities in 2007. 

Because of the success of the project, the team will expand its work to cover at least 10 more communities in 2008, depending on the ongoing requests from villages, enabling an estimated 1000 people to have access to clean water.  It is anticipated that this initiative will expand very quickly and become a vibrant component in the Project’s work.

The bio-sand filters were developed and tested by the Beni Project’s partner, CAWST (Centre for Affordable water and Sanitation Technology),  a Canadian NGO. The filters are designed to be able to be built with available local materials in the villages themselves, and easily maintained after sufficient training.  They are low cost (USD25, which includes materials, training and transport when needed) and intended to be used by individual or multiple families, and in village schools. 

The staff has constructed the metal molds for the filters, so the primary materials needed are concrete and a piece of metal or plastic pipe, (available in the nearest towns), gravel and sand (available locally).  The Rio Beni Health Foundation anticipates a very large surge in requests from neighboring villages in the forthcoming years, as this potable water initiative is the only project of its kind in the region.

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